well, pike and a-griff are not making tons of money, and they both would have been excellent contributers if not for injuries. so whats your point?
You said the Rockets had stopped acquiring washed up players suddenly, when they just acquired two last year. Unless these guys are still in their primes and just sitting on the bench all year b/c they suck. Mo Taylor would have been better if not for injuries also. What's your point?
Keep in mind, though, that while we love the extra exposure from all the national games, we don't directly see the revenue from those. And each national exclusive is one less local game that we can sell advertising time on. The teams do get a share of the national TV revenues, but they split that share evenly. It's a point Cuban has been very vocal on -- if your team is on more national games, it most likely means less income, at least over the short term. But, hey, the league is healthier overall if the best games get put on national TV. If that means we're on a bunch of those games, great. We certainly benefitted from other teams in years when we didn't have a lot of national attention. It all comes around. Jerseys sales are also split evenly between all the teams, except for what you sell out of your own in-arena team store. And ... keep in mind that there are salary cap issues that dramatically influence spending. This isn't like baseball where teams determine their own cap. Not trying to refute anybody's points here ... just trying to add some background information for folks. Tim
Darn if you do darn if you don't. I am getting tired of hypocritical posts like this one. We are finally seeing light at the end of the bad contract tunnel, and you gripe because we didn't give another bad contract. Damon was cheap, but there are several reasons to pass on him. Guys, Damon had one good season. I repeat, "One Good Season!" He was a journeyman going team to team before the Bucks. If Damon is not a good fit, then you will rip CD for signing him. Let's give the Rox some time. Be patient! Be patient! Les is a great owner. He does everything he can to get great players. Look at T-Mac age 25, Glide Sir Charles, Pip and others. All we need is good role players. We don't need to overspend like Orlando, Golden State, Utah and Minnesota. We also need to make the right moves. Let's not copy the Mavs. Look at their roster. Can you say Lottery!
freak, your question was already answered. pike had difficulty recovering from a severe high ankle sprain, and a-griff had major knee surgery. both are pretty much in their prime. also, they are role players gettin roleplayer money. so really, you have no point.
Darn! Am I slow or what? I thought Kayman's topic was about whether Steve Francis was currently in an enviroment where he could prosper?
The first date we need to pay attention is Aug. 29. Then if nothing happens between Aug. 29 - Sep 19, the next date to pay attention will be Sept. 20
I am biting my tongue for now, but if we don't use the TE or the full MLE to fill obvious holes in the roster I'll be real dissappointed. I would not buy season tickets under those circumstances if I still lived in Houston. Any way you look at it, Les has benifited immensly financially from owning the Rockets. All those years he was agreeing to the bad contracts CD made (Mooch, Mot, Cato), the fact was Les was making a lot of money regardless. Most of the years he has owned the Rockets he has made major profits, and he could probably sell the team tomarrow for 2x, 3x, 4x value based on his initial invetment. Given public and taxpayer support (quasi-private enterprise), it is reasonable to expect profitability to be at worst a rough equal priority to building a championship team, and if we don't use the TE or full MLE it is pretty obvious at best winning is a distant 2nd priority to filling the owners personal coffer. The next few months will be really telling about the committment of the ownership. Yao and Tmac alone are enough to generate fans interest and competitiveness, but cannot bring titles without solid roles players you do have to pay to get.
What if we use the TE or full MLE on a player that doesn't merit it, and we get stuck with another long term contract for a non-entity? Considering the Rockets' past history of getting burned (Anderson, Taylor, Moochie), and considering the wild MLE salary craze -- I don't think an aversion to hampering the Rockets for years to come (when they will have their best championship shot) is a sign of a lack of a commitment to winning.
Way too much hate and bitterness in the BBS right now. I hope the front office signs some players just to bring some happiness back that showed after the TMAC deal.
Careful there, cowboy. Someone's liable to slag you for calling the BBS negative. And then somebody else will complain that too many people are complaining about people complaining. Vicious, vicious cycle. Heh.
Two points: #1 Good roll players don't grow on trees. We have little in future draft picks to even try to have late 1sts or early 2nds to pan out. Every team has some bad contracts, but sometimes you get good contracts. Cat Mobley was a great signing (about MLE level). James Posey or KT for MLE money would have been fine contracts. You can't be so jaded by the past you are afraid to take calculated risks or you will never reach the top of the pack in the very competitive NBA. #2 We probably will never have as much leverage as we have this offseason. We have an almost 7 mil TE, we have a full MLE and we have a 1.6 exemption. This was also a good group of FAs, especially PGs, much deeper pool than next year's PGs. The time to strike for our long term PG is this offseason. Damon Jones and Mike James just went for extremely reasonable salaries (compare to Barry, Fisher, Alston, and even Arroyo--who at the time we thought was low-balled). In sum, with the pick of the litter among Jones and James--guys with solid years as part time starters and playoff efficiency, coupled with a bone dry market prior to Milwalkee's MLE being re-opend, it should have been a nobrainer to add one of those guys at bargain prices like they went for assuming other plans have not already been set. If we don't somehow pull a player a notch higher than them in talent this offseason it will be extremely dissappoiting. It basically will show despite having two of the top 10 talents and two of the top 15 players in the league right now, they are not really gunning for a title next year. It would show winning would be such a distant priority to profits despite the Rockets having a real chance at a title. For now I am still somewhat hopefull a significant deal has been worked out (like James and AD for Howard and part of the TE), but after the Posey fiasco last year I have to admit I am less than fully confident.
This is so stupid. Les Alexander, the same guy that gave Mo a big contract, Cuttino a decent sized contract, Steve Francis a monsterous contract, McGrady is about to get a big contract, gave Barkley 9 million dollars his last year in the league, ate Hakeems monsterous contract, gave Moochie a huge contract to be a back-up PG, gave Cato a huge contract, is eating Juwan Howard's contract, gave Maloney a big contract out of loyalty, who consistently spends money on role players, is about to give Yao a huge contract, gave Pippen a monsterous contract, all of this makes Les a cheap owner. Why, because he didn't throw money around like an idiot this summer? I wish the Rockets would get a PG just so we can stop hearing people b*tch about moan.
some people will never change their minds.....What do you want les to do? HOW ABOUT WE HAVE LES DRIVE AROUND TOWN AND THROW MONEY OUT THE WINDOW WITH SOME $10,000 HOOKERS---RAP VIDEO STYLE--- would that make you happy?
I tell you, nothing bothered me more as a fan than in October of last year when we were beating the heck out of the Nuggets, enjoying the glitz and glamour of our new stadium, and watching the arena empty out to a quarter of the capacity by the start of the fourth quarter. For shame, white-collar paid-50-bucks-to-leave-early guy.
I'm not saying he's cheap, but surely you realize that most of your examples were regular contracts. Doesn't make him cheap, but he's not throwing money around. Cuttino: Early Bird MoT: If you factor in his first year for 2.5M, the average over 6 years is his regualr value Steve Francis: WOuld've gotten a MAX from anyone T-Mac: As if he has a choice? Barkley and Hakeem are Hall of Famers, 'Nuff Said. Moochie contract: Ok with this one. Cato: Ok with this one. Juwan Howard: Had to take it to get T-Mac, no choice really. Maloney: Ok. Yao: All 29 other teams would max him out, including clippers. Pippen: Hall of Famer, coming off a championship. So in all fairness, for the most part, he's been "regualr"... I.E., almost all owners would make the same decisions. But then there's Posey, there's Hakeem's last season... There's this summer, although it's not over yet.. But again, I think next summer will be the real test. If we make it to the second round, then Les needs to spend a little more.
Sane, I think the point is, a lot of people in this thread are making Les out to be the second coming of Sterling or even Shinn from the Hornets...that is just not true. Since he bought the team, we have done the following: A. Brought in 3 future HOF's: Drexler, Barkley, Pippen...I don't think the Hornets or Clippers (not to mention most other NBA teams) can claim to bringing three players of this caliber over a 10 year period. None were cheap, and none 'fell into his lap.' And that number could possibly increase to 5 if Steve and Tmac fulfill expectations. I don't think Sterling has ever even had a HoF player on his roster. B. Consistently spent (overspent?) to bring in quality role players: Anderson, Taylor, JJackson, GRice...While not mega-deals for superstars, Les has definitely shown he is more-than-willing to surround his stars with expensive role players. C. Never been afraid to make a big trade: Drexler, Barkley, Francis, Griffin, Tmac...Give credit where it is due; Les is always prepared to make a big splash when the situation presents itself. You don't make deals for superstars and lottery picks unless you want to win. Otherwise, maintain the status quo and pocket the profit. D. Been very good about not letting talent walk away for nothing: From Pippen to Steve to Cato to Mobley....Les almost NEVER lets talent leave the franchise without compensation. And whenever a loyal employee comes up for a raise, Les steps up to the plate, rather than trading away expensive talent for cheaper replacements, or worse, letting it leave for nothing. So, whether or not you agree with his results, you can't claim Les is unwilling to pay for a winner unless you can decisively refute the 4 points above.
